Imprisoned

Chapter 2: Nayoko’s Bloodline
A/N: This chapter will shed some light on Nayoko’s heritage and where she comes from. I hope that you like the story so far! I still sadly do not own Inuyasha, although I would certainly love to! Well enjoy the update!

*Flashback to the past*
Sanoko was the strongest priestess in all the eastern lands now that her mother Leiko had relinquished her duties as priestess of the eastern lands to Sanoko. Before Sanoko’s mother Leiko had become the strongest miko her grandmother and her mother’s mother (Wow that is kinda confusing, sorry!) Midoriko had been the most powerful miko to walk the earth.

Sanoko had been sent to heal a young demon lord in the eastern lands because the long running feud between demons and mikos had been put to an end when her grandmother Midoriad fad forged an alliance with the eastern lands first lord, Daisetsu. So it came to be that demons and priestesses were no longer enemies but allies. Sanoko journeyed to the young lord’s palace nestled deep within the eastern lands alone on horseback. She arrived the large black stone palace just as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon bathing the sky in a beautiful orange pinkish light. Sanoko allowed the stable hand to take her white horse into the stables to be groomed and fed while she went inside to heal the young youkai lord’s illness.

She was led into the palace by a servant that greeted her at the door. They crossed a large open foyer with smooth black marble floors spreading endlessly beneath their feet. Heading up a long spiraling staircase Sanoko was led to a door at the end of a long hallway. The door was large and intricately detailed with carvings of all the previous inu youkai lords that had ruled the eastern lands and a pewter handle. The servant opened the door and ushered Sanoko inside. There lying in a large wrought iron four poster bed was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall from what she could see and had the most perfect dark silvery hair. His kind eyes were an incredible shade of pale blue and he had a pale blue crescent moon marking on his forehead.

“My lord, the priestess Sanoko is here to heal you.” He nodded and gestured weakly for her to come sit on the chair by his bedside. Sanoko padded gracefully over to the bed and sank down lightly into the wooden chair. She pulled out some various medicinal herbs and placed them in the small porcelin bowl that was on the bedside table. Mixing them with a small amount of water she used the wooden tool from her pouch to grind the herbs into a pasty liquid substance. Tilting the lord’s head up gently she helped him bring the bowl to his mouth. Sanoko chanted some words that the lord did not understand and then she placed her free hand over his forehead soothingly. He allowed his pale blue eyes to slip closed feeling a warm tingling sensation beginning to course through his body most likely from the herbs that she had helped him to consume.

“Now rest, you will feel better when you wake up.” The handsome demon lord grabbed Sanoko’s hand abruptly startling her. He looked up into her coal black eyes and spoke. His voice was a deep baritone but it was as smooth as silk to her ears.

“Tell me priestess, what is your name again?”

“My name is Sanoko my lord.”

“Sanoko, that is a lovely name.”

“Thank you my lord.”

“No please, call me Atsumori.”

“Hai my l- Atsumori.” Atsumori smiled at Sanoko before releasing her hand and drifting off into a deep restful sleep. Sanoko remained at the palace to keep close watch over the young lord to make sure that all the toxins from his illness were exercised from his person. She was instructed that she was to sleep in the room next to the lord’s chambers. Days went by and Sanoko found that she greatly enjoyed spending time with Atsumori. The day that she was to return to her village Atsumori had summoned her out to the gardens. Sanoko found Atsumori sitting on a stone bench overlooking a large pond that was filled with many different types of fish.

“You called for me Atsumori?”

“Yes Sanoko, I understand that you are to return to your village today?”

“Yes I am.”

“Please stay here a while longer?”

“But Atsumori I have already stayed here three weeks and I have duties as a priestess at the shrine.” Atsumori took Sanoko’s hand in his and pulled her down to sit next to him.

“I have never met a woman as incredible as you Sanoko, please stay by my side forever?”

“Atsumori are you asking me to become your mate?”

“Yes I am. I have not yet found a woman worthy of becoming my mate until now. Please say that you will become mine Sanoko?”

“Yes but I still have my duties as priestess to the shrine.”

“I understand and you shall be permitted to continue them, but I wish for you to live here with me and be the Lady of the Eastern lands.” Sanoko nodded and Atsumori pulled her flush against him so that they could share their first kiss. Soon after they mated and Sanoko quickly became pregnant with their first and only child, Nayoko.

Nayoko was the legacy of a powerful line of priestesses and an even more powerful line of inu youkai from the eastern lands. Her priestess heritage began with the birth of her great grandmother Midoriko who was the creator of the Shikon No Tama and then married a powerful priest by the name of Kinnosuke. Their union resulted in the birth of Sanoko’s mother Leiko who also became a very powerful priestess. Leiko fell in love with a human lord of the eastern lands by the name of Kinnojo. Kinnojo and Leiko’s marriage resulted in the birth of Sanoko. Now Sanoko and Atsumori were expecting the arrival of their daughter Nayoko.

Their union was not out rightly opposed but it was discreetly frowned upon by priestesses and youkai alike. Sanoko and Atsumori were very happy about the upcoming birth of their child and wanted to hold a celebration in honor of her birth. As the celebration day drew nearer Sanoko began to notice a gradual disturbance that seemed to linger just on the outskirts of the eastern lands. She told Atsumori about the strange feelings that she had been having and decided that she needed to return to the shrine where she had lived as a priestess before she had become the Lady of the Eastern lands. Once Sanoko arrived back at the shrine her mother Leiko informed her that she too had witnessed a great shift in the aura around their lands.

The day that Sanoko was to leave the shrine to return home to the palace a shape shifting demon by the name of Gyokusho attacked the shrine in an attempt to steal the Shikon jewel. Gyokusho had taken the form of Sanoko’s grandmother Midoriko and attacked Leiko. Leiko thinking that her mother had lost her mind she refused to fight back. In the end Leiko’s decision cost her the end of her life. Sanoko barely managed to escape the shrine with the Shikon No Tama hidden in her robes. She returned back home to her palace in the Eastern lands and summoned her grandmother Midoriko immediately.

When Midoriko arrived Sanoko informed her of the massacre at the shrine and that the demon Gyokusho had slain her mother. Fearing for her unborn child’s life Sanoko decided to give the Shikon jewel back to her grandmother Midoriko to keep it safe. The death of Sanoko’s mother made her decide to keep Nayoko’s connection to the jewel and her demon heritage a secret. “Atsumori, we have to talk about our daughter.”

“What is it my love, what has happened?”

“A demon by the name of Gyokusho attacked the shrine and killed my mother today. I took the jewel and fled before he could find me. I sent the jewel away with my grandmother Midoriko so that she could keep it safe from any evil. Should that demon Gyokusho ever return I don’t want him to know that our little girl is in any way connected to that damned jewel. I think it’s best if we keep her demon bloodline a secret as well and put a concealment spell on her to make her appear to be a human child.”

“Whatever younk ink is best for our little girl Sanoko, I will go along with it. Do you think that she will be safe if we hide her demonic bloodline?”

“Yes, I’m sorry Atsumori but it’s the only way that she will have the chance to stay out of harm’s way.” Atsumori nodded and hung his head sadly. Now that he was ready to be a father his child would not even know that she was part demon. Sanoko decided to take Nayoko to a small human village just outside the palace gates and allow her to live wan ean elderly woman by the name of Keiko. Keiko would come to be like a grandmother to Nayoko and she would still know that Sanoko was her mother, but she would not know that her father was the great inu youkai lord of the East Atsumori.

*End Flashback*

Nayoko had been raised never knowing that she had the demonic blood of a very prominent and powerful inu youkai clan of the East running through her veins. Her mother Sanoko always made certain that the concealment spell that she had placed on Nayoko was never broken. If Nayoko ever found out that she was half demon as well as a miko she would never forgive her mother for keeping her father’s identity a secret.

A/N: This was just a short chapter to kind of shed a little light on Nayoko’s family and both sides of her bloodline, both miko and inu youkai. I hope that you like the direction that the story is heading in so far. The next chapter will have Sesshomaru discover quite a bit about Nayoko’s hidden family history. Enjoy and please review!